DraftKings Main MLB Picks For April 29

Eight of the games are in the main DraftKings tournament. There are less great pitching options available than in the afternoon slate. Is there a bargain to be found here as well? Let’s check out some stats!

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The money line was at 131.05 largely due to many pitchers, including Max Scherzer, getting knocked around a little. My mini-stack lineup of Orioles, Rangers, and Rays made it into the money despite a subpar performance from Scherzer, but the other had no chance because I had none of the major hitters.

The winning lineup was a huge score of 262.85, which was 18.7 DraftKings points more than second place! He was one of the few that had Travis d’Arnaud (he was 0.2% owned) and his monster to homer game. He also bucked the Scherzer trend and went Jacob deGrom, who picked up 33.5 DraftKings points. He stacked Mets and Orioles and had Marcus Stroman to put the finishing touches on a huge score.

NOTE: these picks are based solely on statistics. Some players have never faced their opponents, or have very little experience against them. I am not saying that none of those are good picks. The highest scorer of the day could be someone with no experience against his opponent. This is based on statistical analysis only. If you have a gut feeling, then by all means, follow that. This is not an exact science. The best lineups usually have a mix of proven stats and hot players. Check out this post from Matt McGarvey for great tips about whether to use a hot player in DFS or not.

For you first time players, if you would like $10 worth of free entry tickets, use this link for the referral bonus! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn that $10 into more!

Next: DraftKings Main Lineup 1

P: Dan Straily ($9,200): The Pirates are only hitting .205 against Straily in 88 at bats with two homers and six runs. They have struck out exactly 25% of the time. Straily rung up 14 Padres in his last outing. There is a great chance that he reaches double digits again, which makes him a good option.

P: Brandon McCarthy ($8,900): McCarthy is off to a great start, going 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in four starts. Only four current Phillies have faced McCarthy, and only Howie Kendrick has driven in a run off of him. In 33 at bats, McCarthy has racked up ten strikeouts. There is a lot of strikeout potential here, and the Phillies offense has yet to really hit it’s stride. This could be a huge game for McCarthy.

C: Buster Posey ($4,200): Posey is 9-22(.409) with two walks, a double, a homer, three runs scored, and a RBI off of Jhoulys Chacin in his career. Posey took a seat last night, so he should be in there tonight. Stacking against Chacin is likely a pretty good idea.

1B: Mike Napoli ($3,800): Napoli is 4-12 with two walks, a triple(!), two homers, and four RBI against Jesse Chavez in his career. Chavez has strikeout potential – he has rung up Napoli five times already – but he is a risky play at best. Ranger hitters are another story.

2B: Rougned Odor ($4,200): Odor is 4-8 with two walks, a homer, two runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Jesse Chavez. Chavez has been hit and miss all season. He as a definite miss against the Rangers on April 12, so don’t be afraid of at least a mini Rangers stack.

3B: Josh Harrison ($3,400): Harrison is about the only Pirate that has managed to hit Dan Straily. He is 4-12 with a double, three runs scored, and two solo homers against him already. Those are all of the homers against Straily hit by the current Pirates. Harrison is the only one I would trust.

SS: Carlos Correa ($4,700): It would be a bit misguided to not have at least a little exposure to a pitcher that has allowed 10 hits in 22 at bats to the current Astros team. Evan Gattis is the only one to take Andrew Triggs deep, but Correa is 2-4 with a triple, a run scored, and a RBI. That’s a good start!

OF: Ender Inciarte ($4,200): Inciarte is 4-8 with two doubles, a solo homer, and a steal against Jimmy Nelson already. Nelson has shown signs of being a really good pitcher, but he hasn’t been very consistent. The current Braves are hitting .312 off of Nelson, and could be a sneaky stack play. Brandon Phillips has already homered off of him twice, but Miller Park is different than Great American Launching Pad.

OF: Yasmany Tomas ($4,100): Tomas has four hits in six tries against Tyler Anderson. Two of those are doubles, he has scored twice, driven in a run, and stolen a base. It’s only a matter of time before he hits one out of the park against Anderson.

OF: Manuel Margot ($3,000): Margot seems really cheap tonight. He is 2-3 against Matt Cain, which is nothing all that great, but both hits are home runs. Those are the only two homers that the Padres have off of Cain so far, but it is a rather small sample size.

Next: DraftKings Main Lineup 2

P: Ivan Nova ($8,100): Nova doesn’t have much of a history against the Marlins, but Martin Prado is the only one to get a hit off of him. Ichiro Suzuki and Adeiny Hechavarria are a combined 0-9. Prado is 2-5 with a run scored. The Marlins are a solid offensive team, but Nova has been very good since being traded to the Pirates. It has carried over to this year. He has a 2.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in four starts.

P: Matt Cain ($7,700): Cain is a bit of a risk tonight considering the current Padres are 7-21 off of him with just two strikeouts, but this year the Padres are statistically the worst offense in baseball. It doesn’t help that Travis Jankowski and Alex Dickerson are out. This is a little bit of a watered down Padres offense, but Cain is still a bit of a risk. That said, he is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA so far this year. He seems to have turned back the clock a bit, but how long will it last?

C: Yasmani Grandal ($3,300): Grandal has only faced Zach Eflin twice. Once he walked. The other time he hit a two run homer. I like those odds!

1B: Mark Reynolds ($4,000): At first glance, Greinke is a very good play because the Rockies are back (mostly) at sea level. However, the current Rockies have hit him very hard. Reynolds is only 5-21(.238) against Greinke, but he has two walks, a double, two homers, and three RBI off of him. None of which have come at Coors Field.

2B: DJ LeMahieu ($4,300): LeMahieu is a modest 9-32(.281) with two doubles, a homer, three runs scored, and an impressive six RBI off of Greinke. Yes, I am stacking Rockies even away from Coors Field. The stats support it.

3B: Mike Moustakas ($3,100): Moose is 7-26(.269) with a walk, three doubles, a homer, three runs scored, and two RBI in his career against Phil Hughes. Hughes has decent numbers against the Royals, and could serve as a solid punt option if you go overboard on hitting. Other than Moose, only Alcides Escobar has solved Hughes for the Royals so far.

SS: Trevor Story ($4,700): Greinke was supposed to welcome Story rudely to the majors last year. It was the other way around. Story slugged two homers and drove in six against him in 10 at bats last year.

OF: Mike Trout ($5,500): Trout has hammered Yu Darvish. He is 12-39(.308) with seven walks, a double, four homers, eight runs scored, and six RBI against the Rangers’ ace. Regardless of how you feel the outcome of this game will be, Trout is a must-play. This is not a fluke.

OF: Carlos Gonzalez ($4,800): Gonzalez is 13-34(.382) with two walks, a double, a triple, four homers, five runs scored, and six RBI against Greinke in his career. Lots of people are going to be on Greinke away from Coors because of the strikeout potential, but this offense isn’t bad at lower elevation. It’s just a little less potent. Chase Field is also a hitter’s park. This could be a high scoring game.

OF: Kole Calhoun ($4,300): Calhoun is 5-14 with two walks, two homers, three runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Yu Darvish. Darvish doesn’t allow a lot of base runners, so Calhoun’s RBI potential isn’t high, but he has proven that he can take him deep. He isn’t the only one. Darvish has given up nine homers to the Angels already.

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Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our NBA, PGA, and EPL picks!